Another great year looms keenly ahead of us. Well, mostly ahead of us. We are midway through January and I wonder, what personal and business goals have you set for this year? Have you put pen to paper and articulated your goals in words, in black and white?

When it comes to setting goals, there are two critical factors that affect how the goal statement motivates and helps you to achieve the goal itself.

Firstly, writing down our goal statement – the simple act of putting pen to paper – creates an energy, a drive to achieve the goal that is almost tangible. Especially when hand written rather than typed in a word processor, we associate ourselves with the goal more strongly and we psychologically commit ourselves to achieving the goal. Also, once written down and stuck in a prominent place in our office or home, a written goal reminds us to remain focussed on actions that bring that goal closer to reality, radically increasing the probability that we will achieve the goal.

Secondly, the statement must be a clear declaration of intent. We need to ensure there is quality built into the act of writing the goal and this is where SMART goals can help. Here’s how SMART works:

S stands for Specific. When writing a goal, word it in a way that there can be no doubt as to what the goal is about. The goal statement must be self-explanatory and should not require interpretation for it to make sense to anyone who may read it. Poor example: “Improve sales.” Better example: “Improve sales of widget model X to domestic consumers in Western Cape region.” Remember to write it in the positive ie. what you want, not what you don’t want. Have you ever gone shopping with a shopping list of what you did not want to buy?

M is for Measurable. Be explicit as to what success will look like. What evidence should we observe and in what quantities for us to know that we achieved the goal? The desired result should be stated as an absolute, in other words a value that stands on its own like R1 million, 75 Kg, 14 days, or it should be a value relative to something else, like a change in a previous measurement, an industry trend or a competitor's performance. Poor examples: "Improve total national sales," or "Excellent customer service." Better example: "Improve total national sales to R6.5m." or "Reduce response times to customer queries to 50% of previous year's average."

A means Achievable. Simply, is it possible for anyone in the world with unlimited resources to achieve this goal? If it is impossible for anyone to achieve it, then we need to re-think the goal. Also, if I can’t achieve it, this does not mean it is not achievable according to the SMART test. The real value of this test is in helping us think beyond our present limitations and to set goals that stretch us and require us to grow and develop.

R is for Realistic. This is the test that ensures we are in touch with what is possible for us, given our present reality of priorities, resources and our environment. At this point it also helps to distinguish between things we have control over and things we don’t. Goals that stretch us too far are probably unrealistic and will generally cause us to give up trying to achieve them. On the other hand, we don’t want goals that are so easy that we are not motivated or challenged to achieve them.

But how far is too far and how close is too easy? The Achievable and Realistic tests are subjective and, to a large degree, depend on our unique view of reality. It is useful to have some-one you trust and who knows you to challenge whether you are being too easy on yourself or if you are unrealistically stretching yourself too far.

T keeps us Time-bound. Time is precious and, particularly in a competitive business environment, windows to opportunities close after a certain period of time. There is an end date beyond which there is no point in trying to achieve the goal because a competitor will have beaten us to the opportunity or the customer no longer has that need. Be sure to set an end-date to all goals. We hear children the world over state this dream: “When I grow up I want to be a…” The problem with this example is some of us never grow up (and therefore never have an end date to our goal)! Turn the dream into a goal by putting an age or a date into it, for example: “Before I turn 19 I will earn my driving licence.”

These are the basics of SMART goals. While there is much more to goal setting, if we implement the basics, we will greatly improve our chances of reaching our goals.

Goals give dreams legs, legs that take us places and change our lives. The next time you have a dream, be smart and write it down as a SMART goal.